September 28th, 2013, at Bobcat Stadium, Texas
State vs Wyoming. That was the date and
site of Tyler Jones’ Bobcat debut. Texas
State was 2-1 going into that game but the offense looked listless in those
first three games and so the decision was made to turn he reigns of the offense
over to the freshman quarterback out of Stephenville.

On Jones’ second play from scrimmage, he raced past
several Cowboy defenders for a 38-yard run. Five plays later, he handed the
ball off to Robert Lowe who ran the ball in for a 1-yard touchdown run, capping
off a successful first drive for Jones as a college quarterback.

There would be a 3 hour, 29 minute lightning delay later
in the game but Jones remained unfazed, throwing his first career touchdown
pass, a 26-yard connection with Ben Ijah to tie the game at 14-14 right before
halftime. Jones would guide the Bobcats
on four more scoring drives the rest of the game as Texas State beat the
visitors from Laramie 42-21.

Tyler Jones would start 40 more games after that night
with several other memorable games along the way. His 4th and 24 connection with
Ijah later that season in a 33-31 win over South Alabama. A bowl eligible-clinching win at Idaho a week
later. An emotional triple-overtime win
at Tulsa in 2014, a game which saw Jones make play after play in the bonus
football periods. A come-from-behind
victory at ULM and dominating wins against Arkansas State and Georgia State as
well that season. His masterpiece in a
losing effort against Southern Miss last season and his clutch play against
Ohio this year, another triple-overtime thriller that resulted in a Texas State
victory.

No quarterback gained more total yards in their career
wearing the maroon and gold than Tyler Jones.
To date, he has 9,847 yards, recently surpassing Barrick Nealy for the
record. He’s second all-time in school
history in passing yards (8,450) and second in touchdown passes (55) and he’s
done it all with a quiet confidence.

Unfortunately, Jones’ final season isn’t ending the way
he, or anyone else would’ve liked and the same goes for the other 17 seniors
who are suiting up for the final time on Saturday. There will be no bowl game to go to or
championship to celebrate. But there are
the memories, and Jones and this senior class have given us their share. Perhaps they can give us one more memorable
moment with a win over Arkansas State at Bobcat Stadium. Here are five things to know about the game.

1) Arkansas
State has had an unconventional path to success this season

To say the Red Wolves struggled to start the season would
be an understatement. The reigning Sun
Belt champions were beaten soundly at home by Toledo in their season opener,
31-10. After (an expected) loss to
Auburn, the Red Wolves lost their next two games as well against Utah State (a
team which finished 3-9) and FCS Central Arkansas (at home). While Arkansas State had bounced back from a
1-3 start the year before to win the Sun Belt, it seemed highly unlikely that
the Red Wolves could pull that trick off again.

Wrong.

According to a conversation I had with Arkansas State
broadcaster Matt Stolz, the Red Wolf players held a players only meeting after
that loss to Central Arkansas to try and figure out how they were going to dig
themselves out of their 0-4 hole.

Initially, it appeared that meeting had gone for not as
Arkansas State was staring down the barrel of an 0-5 record, trailing Georgia
Southern in its Sun Belt opener 26-20 with just two minutes left to play and
facing 4th and 16 at its own 24-yard line. That game, and really the Red Wolves’ season,
looked over. However, quarterback
Justice Hansen scrambled for 18 yards to keep the possession alive and later
threw the game winning touchdown pass to Omar Bayless with nine seconds left.

Arkansas State hasn’t looked back ever since. The Red Wolves rattled off six straight wins
after that 0-4 start, a streak that ended last Saturday in a 24-19 loss at
Louisiana. But that was just a minor
bump in the road for the Red Wolves who are still in a position to win a share
of the Sun Belt title on Saturday, what would be the programs’ fifth
championship in six years. All of this
for a team that was 0-4, a play away from being 0-5, and left for dead. Remarkable.

2) The Red
Wolves’ Defensive Line is the Best in the Sun Belt

While Arkansas State’s offense improved dramatically
during its six game win streak (from 17 PPG during the 0-4 start to over 32 PPG
since), the Red Wolves’ defense is what has truly led the way to the team’s
in-season turnaround. A-State hasn’t
given up more than 26 points since September 24th and in conference
play, the Red Wolves are surrendering just 15.4 PPG. They’ve enjoyed that success with a fearsome
defensive line.

At the two defensive end positions are Ja’Von
Rolland-Jones and Chris Odom who have combined for 20.5 sacks this season, the
second best sack duo in the FBS. Those
two have more sacks than six Sun Belt teams do all season and a lot of their
damage has come in recent weeks. All but
four of those 20.5 sacks have come in the last five games alone (9 for
Rolland-Jones, 7.5 for Odom). In fact,
Rolland-Jones, who is only a junior, is one of the greatest pass rushers to
ever play in the Sun Belt. His 28 career
sacks are the most ever for a Sun Belt player and are tied for the most in
A-State history.

The job of a defensive end is easier when the secondary
is good (and Arkansas State’s secondary is great) and also when you get some
help from the interior of the defensive line.
Like the secondary, that’s another check for the Red Wolves who have one
of the better nose guards in the country in Waylon Roberson, a pre-season 1st
team all-conference defensive lineman.
Roberson, who will likely be drafted this coming spring, measures out at
a massive 6’2”, 341 pounds. Needless to
say, the Bobcats’ offensive line will have its hands full Saturday night.

3) Justice
Hansen is Developing Into a Solid Quarterback

The biggest hole to fill for Arkansas State this past
off-season was at quarterback as Fredi Knighten, a veteran and talented
quarterback, had graduated. To fill that
void, the Red Wolves turned to a couple of transfer quarterbacks, first handing
over the reins of the offense to Chad Voytik, a graduate transfer from Pitt. Voytik started the first three games of the
season for Arkansas State and struggled, eventually being sent to the bench
after a poor start at Utah State. The
Red Wolves gave the “keys to the car” to Justice Hansen (a former 4-star
recruit and Oklahoma Sooner) and haven’t looked back since.

Hansen has been Arkansas State’s starting quarterback
since Week 4, and while he lost his first start to Central Arkansas, he has
since settled in nicely, guiding the Red Wolves to a 6-2 record in his time as
the starter, including a 2-1 record on the road. He’s twice been named as the Sun Belt’s
Offensive Player of the Week and is currently second in the conference in pass
efficiency and is tied for third in touchdown passes with 14. Even in defeat last week, Hansen played well,
completing 35 of 57 passes for 393 yards and a touchdown at Louisiana.

At season’s start, everyone knew Arkansas State would
have a great defense, a veteran offensive line, and great players at the skill
positions but questioned whether or not that would be enough to overcome a lack
of experience at football’s most important position: quarterback. While that in fact seemed warranted during
the first month of the season, this appears to no longer be an issue for
Arkansas State.

4) The State of
Texas Has Been Good to A-State

It should come as little surprise that a good chunk of
Arkansas State’s talent comes from Texas: 17 of the Red Wolves’ players hail
from the Lone Star State. The only state
that Arkansas State draws more players from is from the state of Arkansas. In
fact, the three defensive lineman highlighted a few paragraphs above are all
from Texas.

Not only do the Red Wolves poach the state for talent,
but they have a habit of beating teams from Texas as well. Over the past nine years, Arkansas State is
11-1 against teams from the state of Texas.
That lone loss? I’ll
give you one guess.

5) It’s Senior
Day at Texas State

This of course is something I went into detail earlier,
reminiscing about the great career of Tyler Jones. He isn’t the only player taking the field for
the final time on Saturday, so here is a list of the 18 seniors playing their
final game on Saturday. Please click the
links provided for more information on each player and if you’re at the game,
please be sure to give them your support and make their final college football
experience as memorable as possible.

It’s that time of year again! We are 10 days away from the start of the
2016 football season, so now seems like an opportune time to start cranking out
the “5 Things To Know” column which I started last year. During the season, these columns will focus
on the opponents Texas State’s football team will be facing, but this week I’m
keeping the focus on the Bobcats themselves. Training Camp has just about wrapped up, and the team is starting to
take shape. On Wednesday, the Bobcats
held their final scrimmage of camp. The team is holding a “mock game” on
Saturday, however, the goals of camp have pretty much been met. The install of the playbook is in, and most
of the roles have been assigned.

The last two and a half weeks have been dedicated to
self-improvement and separating the wheat from the chaff, so much so that Ohio
hasn’t really come up a whole lot. But that’s about to change. The Bobcats can finally start setting their
sights on, well, the Bobcats. We’ll get
to them next week. For now, let’s look
back at training camp and see where things stand for Head Coach Everett Withers and company.

1)Tyler
Jones is the starting QB and could be in store for a special season

At his post-scrimmage media session on Wednesday, Coach Withers announced that Tyler Jones will be the Bobcats’ starting quarterback and deservedly so. Despite being pushed at times by newcomer
(and Missouri transfer) Eddie Printz, Jones has looked sharp throughout most of
camp and had one of his best days during the Wednesday scrimmage. TJ didn’t have a strong finish to his junior
season, and with the new coaching staff coming in, his job was far from safe
heading into the spring. Yet, he’s
continued to prove that he’s up to the challenge and continues to win the respect
of his coaches and teammates-- the latter of which voted him as one of the team
captains on Wednesday.

As noted above, Jones did struggle towards the end of the
2015 season, but to be fair the same can be said about the team as a whole, and
we’ve all seen what TJ is capable of when he’s at the top of
his game. That of course is a clip
from Jones’ 470 total yard, 5 touchdown day against Southern Miss from last
season, one of the greatest single game performances ever for a Texas State
quarterback. I don’t know if we’ll see
12 of those in 2016 but I think fans should be optimistic about the chances of
seeing some games like the one Jones had against those Golden Eagles from a
year ago.

First consider his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks
coach, Brett
Elliott. At James Madison last year,
Elliott served as Coach Withers’ co-offensive coordinator and QB coach and
helped mold Vad Lee into arguably the best quarterback in the FCS. Lee led the FCS in total offense (375 yards
per game) and in completion percentage (68.3%) and was named as not only the
Colonial Athletic Association’s Offensive Player of the Year, but also as the
best college football player in the state of Virginia. Prior to that, Coach Elliott was the
Offensive Quality Control coach at Mississippi State where he worked with Dak
Prescott who blossomed into one of the best quarterbacks in the FBS, breaking
10 school records in 2014, Coach Elliott’s final season with the Bulldogs. The guy knows his quarterbacks, and now he
gets to work with Jones who’s preparing to embark on his senior season. Speaking of which…

There’s been a pretty solid track record of Bobcat
quarterbacks having stellar seasons as seniors wearing the maroon &
gold. Take a look at the last three
Texas State signal callers who served as the primary starters during their
senior years.

QB (Year)

Comp %

Pass Yds

TD/INT

Eff Rating

Rush Yds

Rush TD

Barrick Nealy (2005)

57.5%

2,875

21/7

139.5

1,057

13

Bradley George (2009)

63.1%

3,121

23/11

140.4

26

0

Shaun Rutherford (2012)

64.5%

2,137

15/5

137.8

597

5

A few takeaways from that chart: 1) Nealy’s 3,932 total yards and 34 total
touchdowns in 2005 are school records. 2) George averaged 286 yards of offense
in 2009 which is also a school record. 3) Rutherford’s completion percentage in
2012 is the 2nd best in school history behind Jones’ 65.4% in 2014.
4) George didn’t run a lot. 5) Those pass efficiency ratings rank as the 5th,
7th and 8th best in the history of Bobcat football.

It goes without saying that a senior year should be a player’s best let alone a
quarterback but if anything, that should make you even more excited about TJ this year.
We’ve seen some great football from him and more could be on the way.

2)Who
else will have the ball in their hands this season?

Good question. Consider
the skill position players the Bobcats are having to replace: Robert Lowe and
Chris Nutall at running back, Brandon Smith, Jafus Gaines and C.J. Best at wide
receiver and Lawrence White and Ryan Carden at tight end. That’s over 8,000 total yards and 60
touchdowns worth of offense from their careers that’s now gone. Even if the Bobcats had a wealth of returning
backs and receivers, there’s no telling what roles they would have with a new coaching
staff. What the staff has had to work
with is a mix of newcomers and returning players who were either redshirted
last year or had minimal in-game experience.
That led to a lot of shrugging of the shoulders by yours truly when
asked who the playmakers would be on this year’s team.

Now that training camp is essentially over, the picture
of “what will this team look like” is now a lot clearer. Based on what I’ve observed, here’s a rough-draft
look at the offensive skill position depth chart heading into next week’s
season opener.

A few notes here: this is in no way set in stone, and
there have been a lot of moving parts throughout camp. Several of the “2nd and 3rd
team” players listed above have run with the 1st team offense in
camp. In fact, it’s probably more
appropriate to list this as 1st Team-A, 1st Team-B and 2nd
Team. I could easily see that group of 2nd
team receivers getting ample playing time this season and the same goes for Siudzinski
at running back. Siudzinski has the most
game experience of all the running backs, and let’s not forget he
torched Idaho for 170 yards in the Kibbie Dome last year.

Two of the best players in camp have been Mayberry and Worrell. Mayberry had trouble getting playing time
behind the likes of Lowe, Nutall and Terrance Franks the past couple of seasons,
but with an open competition for the starting job this time around, he’s taken
full advantage of the opportunity. Mayberry,
who Coach Withers has called the team’s most explosive running back, seemed to
separate himself from the pack early on in training camp and never let up.

Meanwhile, Worrell has been one of the best stories of
camp. A walk-on transfer from Allan
Hancock CC, Worrell caught the attention of the coaching staff with his energy
and enthusiasm and has proven he’s got some talent to go along with that fire. Worrell has gotten some time working with the
first team offense and ripped off a long touchdown run during the Bobcats’
final scrimmage of camp on Wednesday.

As for Tutt, the true freshman will be a factor in Texas
State’s backfield as well. Tutt was one
of the most highly touted players in Texas State’s signing class this past
February and was an absolute
monster at Keller High School. He’s
also had some impressive moments at training camp and could be an offensive
fixture for years to come.

With him, Mayberry, Siudzinski and Worrell, the running
back position, which was a question mark heading into camp, is now one of Texas
State’s deepest on the roster.

3)Okay,
but who’s blocking for them?

Also a good question.
Coach Withers has talked a lot about the team lacking enough “2s”, and I
get the sense he’s referring to the offensive line more than any other
position. The Bobcats lost Adrian
Bellard, Zach Crawford and Brandon Sarabia to graduation. Several other offensive linemen left the
program over the offseason. The coaching
staff has had to convert a couple of defensive linemen to the offensive line
just to have bodies. This is simply not
a deep unit.

However, one of Texas State’s best overall players is at
the premium LT position: Ryan
Melton. Guard Felix
Romero is back from injury (torn ACL in the conference opener last year)
and has proven to be a special player when healthy. Giuliano
Cattaneo started eight games last season despite battling injuries of his
own and will start at center. At the
other tackle and guard positions, it appears starting duties will be held by
sophomore Tryston
Mizerak and redshirt freshman Jacob
Rowlandrespectively.

Beyond those five players, the offensive line is a mixed
bag. Of all the positions Texas State
can ill afford injury to this year, it’s this one. Whatever lucky charm you have, keep it with
you at all times.

4)What
will the defense look like in 2016?

The easy answer is: a lot different. Putting aside personnel for a moment, simply
seeing Texas State line up in the 3-4 will be a drastic change. I’ve been covering Bobcat Football since 2003,
and this will be the first time I’ve seen a Bobcat team run the 3-4
defense. It’s not exactly a stat that
can be tracked, but I’m curious if the program has ever run it.

First-year defensive coordinator Randall
McCray ran the 3-4 at Gardner-Webb. In three seasons, his teams had a
penchant for stopping the run and getting off the field--two things Texas
State’s defense struggled to do last year.
Gardner-Webb held opponents to under 100 yards rushing 13 times in
McCray’s three seasons. This past year, the Bulldogs had the third best 3rd
down defense in the FCS, yielding just a 25.9% success rate to their
opponents. Last year, the Bobcats
surrendered 259 yards rushing per game (7th most in the FBS) and a
49.1% 3rd down success rate (5th highest in the FBS). McCray is here to help clean that up, and
Bobcat fans should feel confident that he can.
When he first arrived at Gardner-Webb, the Bulldogs had the most
improved defense in the country in 2013, going from the 101st ranked
defense to 5th in his first season.

Fans wanting to see more turnovers forced by the defense
should also feel good in knowing that in Coach Withers’ last eight seasons of
coaching, his teams had a total of 122 interceptions. That comes out to 15 per
season. Texas State had just three picks
all of last season, so imagine what 12 more of those could do for a
defense.

As for the players, the “moving parts” mentioned in the
offense above applies here as well. On
the defensive line, Dallas
McClarty will be the team’s starting nose tackle (one of the most important
positions in a 3-4 defense), Jordan Mittie will line up at one of the two
starting defensive end spots and you could see a mix of Dean
Taylor and Ishmael
Davisat the other end position.

At OLB we saw some shuffling of the deck throughout camp. Towards the end of camp, a lot of first team
reps were going to Easy
Anyama and Gavin
Graham with Kumonde
Hines, Teron
Fitzgeraldand Karee’
Berry in the mix for the back-up spots.
Frankie
Griffin started camp as one of the starters but has been dealing with a
concussion. Coach Withers mentioned in
his post-scrimmage media session just how impressed he’s been by Graham and
Hines, both true freshmen.

On the topic of 1st year Bobcats, Gabe
Loyd, a junior college transfer, has made an immediate impact on the team
both on and off the field per Coach Withers.
He’s a lock to start at inside linebacker for Texas State and could wind
up as being the Bobcats’ best player on the defensive side of the ball this
season. Opposite of him at the other ILB
spot will likely be Bryan
London, a redshirt freshman from Converse.

In Texas State’s secondary, the 1st team
cornerbacks appear to be Brandon
McDowell and Clarence
Guidry while the safety spots will feature Javante
O’Roy and either Damani
Alexcee or Stephan
Johnson as starters. The starting 11
on defense has a mixture of experience (McClarty, McDowell, Alexcee) and new
blood (Loyd, Graham, London), so it’ll be interesting to see how it comes
together. The 2nd and 3rd
string units have been harder to identify, so again, depth could be an issue.
However, if the starters stay healthy, Texas State’s defense has a chance to be
a difference maker this season.

5)Texas
State’s Special Teams Unit Could Be A Big Strength In 2016

Field position is always pivotal, and while the offense
and defense certainly play a role in that, special teams is just as
important. Texas State has weapons at
its disposal on special teams to win those field position battles in
punter/kickoff specialist Lumi
Kaba and McDowell as a returner.
Coach Withers has noted that McDowell will not only return punts this
season, but will also likely add kickoff return duties to his job
description.

Kaba finished 2nd in the Sun Belt last season,
averaging 44.3 yards per punt. He had 20 punts of 50 yards or more while also
pinning opponents inside their own 20-yard line 19 times. Even in a tough defensive season like the one
Texas State had last year, the numbers show just how crucial it is to make an opponent
“work” for its points. Bobcat opponents
scored 35% of the time when their drives started from their own 20-yard line or
further back, but that number skyrocketed to 50% when starting a drive with
less real estate. Kaba, named preseason
2nd team all-Sun Belt, has the leg to make teams work (and he can
run too!).

McDowell meanwhile has proven
to be a greatreturn man. His ability to create field
position for the offense will be just as crucial as Kaba’s ability to help the
defense. When the Bobcats started from
their own 35-yard line or closer last year they scored 54% of the time. If they started behind the 35-yard line, that
figure plummeted to 25%. McDowell and
Kaba aren’t by any means the only ones responsible for field position but they
play important roles. Also of note
regarding special teams is that Tyler Watts will also get opportunities to return
kickoffs and redshirt freshman Marcus Ripley will be the Bobcats’ place
kicker.

While those are the five biggest things you should know
this week, I’d like to bullet point a few other things before I wrap up the
column:

-Texas State could possibly make it through the
season without wearing the same uniform combo twice. Tweaks were made from last year’s uniform set
(and I’m not sure all of the team’s unis were included in that vine) and as you can
see, there’s a lot of different looks the Bobcats could sport this
year. Personally, I like the white
helmet, maroon jersey, white pant look for home games and the white helmet,
white jersey, maroon pant look for road games.

-The athletic year itself is already underway and
off to a great start as Texas State Soccer is 2-0 after posting impressive wins
over Lamar and Prairie View A&M. Both
wins were by 2-nil scores featuring four different goal scorers and an
advantage in shots of 53-8. BTW, the
last time Texas State started 2-0, the Bobcats won a conference title.

-The Texas State Volleyball season starts this
Friday at the North Texas Tournament in Denton and the Bobcats will face Ohio
State in the opener. The home opener is
this coming Tuesday against Baylor. No
one ever accused Coach Chisum of putting together soft schedules and this year
is no different.

-The first Coach Withers Radio Show is this
coming Wednesday at 7:30 at Chimy’s in downtown San Marcos. Once again, the radio show along with game
broadcasts can be heard on our flagship station AM 1300 The Zone (Austin) or on
affiliate stations 930 AM (San Antonio) and 89.9 KTSW (San Marcos, game
broadcasts only, not the coaches show). To
listen online click
here.

That’s all I’ve got for this week, next week’s it’s on to
Ohio! Eat ‘Em Up!

Two
weeks of Fall Camp are just about in the books and it’s at this time that fans
want to know who’s having the best camp and what players to be most excited
about. More often than not, fans are
looking for new names as they know what to expect from the returning players
and it’s just natural to be curious about the “new blood” with so much turnover
from one year to the next in College Football.

Rest
assured, the star players from a season ago, Craig Mager, Mike Orakpo, David
Mayo, Tyler Jones, Ben Ijah, Robert Lowe, Adrian Bellard, etc. are all having
solid camps and will all be leaned upon for big things in 2014.

So
who are some unfamiliar names standing out in camp? Well, CB David Mims II (who did play last
season but backed up Mager & Xavier Daniels), OL Ryan Melton, DE Kris Peterson,
WR C.J. Best, LB Darnell Dailey, DE Jeff Banks and DL Will Trevillion have all
been players that either the coaches or their teammates have pointed out as
having strong camps or are much improved from this time last year. As far as true freshman are concerned, they
are all getting in plenty of work but ideally the coaches would like to
redshirt as many as possible this season (such as WRs Demun Mercer & Brice
Gunter last year). But, as we have seen
over the past few seasons, Coach Fran isn’t afraid to play freshman right away
(Jones, Bellard).

So
the question remains, who is having the best camp, and which newcomer can we
expect to have a huge impact this season?

The
answer to both is RB Terrence Franks.
Franks, a senior, obviously isn’t a newcomer but let me explain. After an outstanding redshirt freshman year
in 2011 (12 games, 8 starts, 863 rushing yards, 9 TDs), Franks hasn’t been the
same the past two seasons (combined 24 games, 4 starts, 470 yards, 7 TDs). There are a few factors that come in to play,
such as an increase in competition (Southland-WAC-Sun Belt) and positional
competition (Marcus Curry, Robert Lowe, Chris Nuttall) eating into his
carries. However, playing time is
earned, and those players simply had better practices, camps and games than
Franks, decreasing his workload.

That
could change this season. While Robert
Lowe (a Doak Walker candidate for nation’s best RB) will be the Bobcats’ first
team running back, he carried the ball 164 times last year, which out of the
298 carries for the team’s backs comes out to 55%. Assuming that number will be close to the
same in 2014, there will once again be an ample amount of opportunities for
the bench. Chris Nutall had 83 carries
to Franks’ 42 in 2013, but those carries could be more evenly dispersed this
year based on what Franks has done in camp so far.

It
seems that every day throughout camp that Franks is breaking off long run after
long run, and everyone has taken notice.
Co-Offensive Coordinator/RBs Coach Jeff Conway says Franks
entered fall camp self-motivated and that he’s been working “like a maniac”,
realizing that the end of his college career is coming up. Something else that Coach Conway and Coach
Fran have pointed out is that Franks’ pass-protection has vastly improved,
something that kept him off the field in passing situations over the past two
seasons. So when I label Franks as a “newcomer”,
it’s because we’re seeing a Terrence Franks we haven’t seen before at Texas
State.

Other
notes as the Bobcats approach the end of Week 2 of camp:

-Coach Conway says the no-huddle
offense could be very beneficial for the team’s running game, with linemen
paving bigger holes for backs to run through against a worn-down defensive
front seven.

-The offense is really standing
out at camp so far, and Coach Conway gives two reasons for that: 1) The
offensive line is as deep as ever since the ‘Cats moved up to the FBS and 2)
Tyler Jones has been outstanding. The
best Fall a QB has had at Texas State in quite some time.

-The coaching staff wasn’t
pleased with the play of the defense during Friday’s morning practice. 1st year Defensive Coordinator
John Thompson says camp started well for the defense, but the entire unit has
hit a lull and it needs to push through it.

-I asked Coach Thompson if
communication is the issue (several new starters, new defensive coordinator)
and he said it isn’t; it’s more execution right now. Specifically, missed tackles.

-When talking about defensive
line, the biggest unknown going into the 2014 season, Coach Thompson harkened
it to a “picture at the mall” (I assume he means those 3D pictures) where it’s
not yet in focus. The staff is still
piecing together the D-line depth chart, and we might see some moving parts as
the season progresses.

Two
weeks down, two to go until UAPB. Until
then, we’ll keep you covered. Keep
sending your questions and comments on Twitter with #BobcatAccess

The crashing of shoulder pads can now
be heard as the Bobcats are adding more and more (and new) gear with the first
week of Fall Camp nearing an end. The
one-on-one drills have been amped up, lineman are able to engage against one
another, and we have also seen the start of the “Bobcat Drill”, where an
offensive player tries to stand up a defensive player and keep him from getting
to a ball carrier. At first glance
yesterday (Day 4 of camp), several starting defensive players got the better
of their offensive counterparts, including projected DL starters Dallas McClarty,
Darius Hood and Michael Odiari.

That was promising to see. Everyone’s eyes lean toward the biggest
position battles in camp, and this season that distinction belongs to the Bobcats’
defensive line. Blake McColloch, D.J.
Yendrey, Jamie Clavell-Head, Jordan Norfleet and Kamu Taulelei are all gone
from last year’s team, each starters at various times (in McColloch’s case, all
36 games for Coach Fran) in their Bobcat careers.

In speaking with Defensive Line Coach
Mike Hudson after practice, he named Odiari and McClarty as two d-lineman
standing out in the first week of camp, along with RS Freshman Jeff Banks. The player that Coach Hudson noted as the
most improved over last year was DE Kris Petersen. If you’ll recall, Peterson was recruited to
Texas State as a tight end, but as the season progressed last season, Petersen (6’4”
232 lbs) was slotted onto the defensive line in pass rushing (3rd
and long) situations.

After a year of experience (not just
in games, but practices which Coach Fran points out is just as important),
Petersen may be more than a “specialist”.
Coach Hudson says that he has a chance to be an every down DE.

Something else to keep in mind, is that
under 1st year Defensive Coordinator John Thompson, the Bobcats will
be more multiple with their defense, to include the line. We could see a mix of 4- and 3-man fronts
with the linebackers serving as pass rushers.
However, when it comes to playing the position of defensive lineman,
Hudson reiterated that “football is football”.
Beat the guy in front of you and you’ve done your job.

Unlike the defensive line, the
offensive line doesn’t have many question marks. There’s only one starter (Devin Baker) gone
from last season, and all of the projected starters have plenty of experience,
the most of which belongs to the line’s only senior (among the starters):
Charlie Will Tuttle. Originally a
walk-on at Texas State, Tuttle has since become a scholarship player and told
me that without a doubt, THIS year’s line is the deepest and most talented when
compared to his previous 3 seasons.

The projected starting five lineman
are Adrian Bellard and Ryan Melton at tackle, Tuttle and Felix Romero at guard
and Matt Freeman at center. Tuttle, who
has played center, says he will stick to guard this season but is moving from
playing next to Bellard last season to playing alongside Melton this
season. Melton, by the way, was the
answer given to me by Tuttle when I asked him who has been the most improved
offensive lineman since last season.
Offensive line and quarterback were two HUGE question marks last year
and that’s not the case this season which gives reason to believe that Texas
State’s offense (23.9 PPG in 2013) will play much more consistently in 2014.

- Speaking of Franks, in 11-on-11 near
the end of practice, he stiff-armed Mager on his way to a long run, but didn’t
score. The man who caught him? Mager.

- The two highly touted receivers from
last year’s recruiting class, Brice Gunter and Demun Mercer, were redshirted in
2013 but could each play a significant role in the offense this season. Each got reps with the 1st team
offense last night, and Gunter in particular was making some pretty incredible
catches all night, whether in drills or in 11-on-11.

- When Mike Orakpo got a breather with
the 1st team defense, Trey McGowen was subbed in his place. Not a name we’ve discussed much when it’s
come to LB depth, so that’s definitely something to keep an eye on.

- In my last blog, I wondered who would
win the battle of back-up QB to Tyler Jones.
According to Coach Fran, Fred Nixon is the front runner.

#BobcatAccess
question of the day from Felipe (@caldeira8felipe): Who, so far, is looking
like the most improved player since last season?

I would say David Mims II. He got some playing time last season behind
Mager and Xavier Daniels but his role will increase this season and he’s earned
it. He’s been playing CB with the first
team defense and I haven’t seen too many passes completed against him. The Bobcats will need him to keep it up in
order to keep the pressure off of Mager.

Keep the questions and comments coming
to #BobcatAccess, we’ll try to cover as much as we can leading up to the season
opener (Aug 30th vs UAPB). We’ll
have a couple of podcasts coming your way next week from the Texas State Media
Days.

First, it’s exciting that football
season is almost here and expectations are high after the Bobcats came oh so
close to earning a bowl invite a season ago.
I’m definitely looking forward to covering the 2014 season and as you’ve
probably noticed by now our coverage started at the SunBelt Conference Media Days from New Orleans. There’s more video, audio and written content available online than
there’s ever been before in the lead up to a Bobcat football season. Given where the program is heading, that’s
only going to increase from here on out.

On to the football, and as of this
writing the Bobcats are two days into fall camp. Here’s what we know at this stage of the
game:

-Unlike
last year, the Bobcats know who the starting quarterback will be for Week 1 and
throughout the season in Sophomore Tyler Jones.
That takes a lot of the pressure off of the offense since it can be tailored
to one individual and everyone can buy into one QB instead of favoring one over
the other.

-What
will be interesting to find out is who wins the role of Jones’ back-up. Connor White, Randy Price and Fred Nixon will
be battling out for the role of 2nd string QB which is obviously a pretty
important job. Just because TJ has a lock on the starting job doesn’t mean we
should ignore QB play throughout camp.

-Even
though Jones is the sure-fire starter for the coming season, I had a chance to
speak with him after Day 2. He’s not
taking the job for granted and has put in a lot of work to be ready for the
fall. He looks every bit the part so
far.

-Jones
was 4-3 as a starter last year, and two of those losses were to the 1st
and 2nd place teams in the Sun Belt: Louisiana-Lafayette and
Arkansas State.

-Who
will Jones throw to now that Andy Erickson and Isaiah Battle are gone? Ben Ijah was his favoritetarget last year, and Brandon Smith will likely start as
well. CJ Best has been running with the
1st team offense early in camp, and I expect we’ll hear from Jones’
old HS teammate Brice Gunter as well.
Very elusive and could be a difference maker this season.

-In
the words of Coach Fran, the offensive line finally looks like a legit D-I FBS
group and when looking at the depth it’s easy to agree. Charlie Will Tuttle (SR), Adrian Bellard
(JR), Matt Freeman (JR), Felix Romero (SO) and Ryan Melton (SO) are all
experienced lineman and the youth behind them is promising as well. Freshmen Tryston Mizerak, Jackson Hoskins,
Will Copa, Kian Schoenborn average out at nearly 6’6” 300 lbs. The Bobcats have a total of 16 offensive
lineman on the roster in camp, so look for some intense competition over the
next couple of weeks.

-The
biggest unknowns on defense are upfront and at the safety position. During some 1st team offense vs
defense drills, Michael Odiari and Thomas Evans were getting reps at defensive
end, while Dallas McClarty and Darius Hood were at DT. Kris Peterson will likely factor as a pass
rushing specialist and there are quite a few newcomers from junior colleges who
will get opportunities on the defensive line throughout camp as well.

-As
far as safeties are concerned, Colby Targun is the only returning starter from
a year ago now that Aaron Matthews and Justin Iwuji are gone. The Bobcats won’t always have three safeties
on the field under 1st year Defensive Coordinator John Thompson, but
when they do, it could be Targun, Germond Williams and Damani Alexcee. The safety’s role in Coach Thompson’s defense
is something to keep an eye on throughout the season.

-Craig
Mager is a really good cornerback and that puts pressure on the
CB playing opposite of him, and Xavier Daniels played really well in that position last
season. With “X” now gone, that role is
likely going to fall to David Mims who definitely possesses the speed necessary
to play the position in what is a WR loaded Sun Belt Conference. Establishing depth behind Mager and Mims will
be key in Fall Camp.

-Fans
may have noticed that the players have been practicing in the maroon helmets which were first
introduced last season. The team will
likely alternate between gold and maroon helmets throughout the season so look for
some interesting uniform combos this year.

Only
a couple of days into fall camp and there’s so much to look for over the next
few weeks. There’s a lot of excitement
on both sides of the ball, and one of the assistant coaches told me to
anticipate a lot more scoring from the offense this season. Couple that with a DC with a proven track
record in Coach Thompson and the Bobcats have every reason to feel confident
heading into 2014.

Full
pads on Friday and the first two-a-days session is this Saturday…hope to see
some more fans over the next several practices! Of course if you have any questions you would
like answered in this blog or our podcast, let us know on Twitter with the
hashtag #BobcatAccess

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The Drive is more than new buildings and championships. It's an increased sense of pride. The essence of Texas State makes this school one of the best universities in the country.
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